Free Piano & Violin Recital Sept. 22, Oct. 7

Students: This one is worth double live performance credits!

Melia Garber is a friend of mine. She is a fabulous pianist, and you will love seeing and hearing her play. Geronimo Oyenard is a wonderful violinist. I'm sure this concert will be great! Thanks to the alert parent who shared this info!

Two chances to go:
Saturday, September 22, 7:30 pm Hollins University, Talmadge Hall
Sunday, October 7, 3:00 pm at Virginia Heights Baptist Church

Picture Week: September 17-22

It's time for your student portrait!

Picture Week: September 17-22, 2012

Music reunites two Russian piano teachers in Clearwater, Florida

This story is unbelievable. Enjoy!

Music reunites two Russian piano teachers in Clearwater, Florida

Why doesn't my child want to practice?

Why doesn't your child want to practice? I will list some possible reasons, but let's first realize that practicing piano is not the same thing as playing the piano. Practicing involves doing new things slowly and reviewing old things repeatedly. It can be compared to doing homework or going to the gym. Some people enjoy homework and working out, and some people enjoy practicing piano. For most of us, though, these are tasks we make ourselves complete in order to get the results we want (or that our parents demand). Before I make you lose all hope, I promise to share some ways to make practicing more fun. We can't take the work element out of it completely, but we can lose the cloud-of-doom aspect with a bit of strategy.

Let's start by trouble-shooting for problems. Are any of these issues getting in the way?

• Your child does not have a tuned instrument to use.
• Your child forgets to practice.
• Other family members complain that they can't hear the TV during practice.
• Piano practicing is the last thing on the to-do list.
• Any and all sports are more important than practicing piano.
• You don't think you are qualified to help your child practice.
• The piano books are still out in the car.
• There is no set piano practice time each day.
• The pianist would rather play his old favorites than his new assignment.
• Mom and Dad leave it completely to the child to remember to practice.
• Wait. I'm supposed to know if my child practices?

Do any of these ring true for you? It's okay. We're all just humans here. Don't despair, because there is hope. I've observed many families' methods over the years, and I can share the secrets of the most successful practicers with you.

• Ask to see your child's assignment book and look at the week's assignment.
• Say things like, "Will you play your new piece for me again? I really think it's starting to sound good."
• Practice smart instead of practicing hard. Focus on the items assigned for a little while each day. Don't skip the hard stuff, but don't spend a long time trying to perfect a tricky passage in one sitting either.
• Keep a pencil on the piano. Circle, jot, and cross-out freely. There are no points for keeping your music pristine. Use a pencil instead of a pen, and try to avoid writing so many notes and reminders that you look at those all the time instead of your actual music.
• Sit with your child for at least a few minutes during practice. You don't have to know anything about music. Just be interested.
• ALWAYS be positive. NEVER fight about piano practice.
• Cramming for your piano lesson by skipping six days of practice and doing an extra long session the day before the lesson is like trying to lose five pounds in one day. (And I've tried that.) Spread your practice time out. Do many short sessions instead of one or two long ones.
• Remember that practicing is about improving little by little. Tell your child that you are proud of his effort. 
• Positive reinforcement: good. Threats: bad.
• Make sure practicing is on YOUR radar. Parents sometimes have no idea that practicing between lessons is a huge part of progressing. They might not think they play a roll in their child's practicing. 
• Don't be a perfectionist. A wrong note is just a wrong note. 
• If you hear the same wrong note over and over (and over and over) again, it's time to write a hint on the music. If you have no idea how to do that, don't worry about it. You can just write me a note, make a video of the problem spot and send it to me (if you're super-ambitious), or just let it slide until lesson day. PS: If you can gently suggest that something doesn't sound quite right when your child gets to a specific place in the music, go for it.
• Set a timer for 10 minutes, and ask your child to try practicing carefully for that long. When the time's up, stop. Repeat tomorrow.
• Have the piano tuner come out for a visit. Most pianos need to be tuned a minimum of once a year. Twice is usually better.

These ideas should get you and your child going on the right path. A rule of thumb is this: if you don't see the golden words, "Practicing Star!" in more than half of your child's lesson notes each semester, Junior needs to spend more time at the piano, and Mom or Dad need to do a little more in the way of active encouragement. It's not something that rests entirely on the child's shoulders. (This is the tough love portion of my message.) A week here or there with no practicing star is completely normal, but most children are capable of earning a star the majority of weeks. I'll do my best to assign music that challenges but doesn't overwhelm. I'll make as many assignments "fun" as I possibly can and demonstrate the best ways to practice at home. In between lessons is your time to take what we start in the studio and help move it along a bit. No musical expertise is required...encouragement and consistency will do the trick!

Remembering 9/11/01

9/11/01. 8:50 a.m.
I was throwing a load of laundry into the washing machine and sipping my morning coffee. My husband was in the shower, and our boys were in bed. When I turned on the TV to watch the morning news, Bryant Gumbel was talking about an "accident" that had happened a few moments ago: a small plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in NYC. Our 11-year-old son had previously been fascinated with the twin towers, so I woke him up and asked him to join me in front of the TV. We were homeschooling, so there was no rush to get off to school. My husband looked on from the bathroom as he finished getting ready for work. As we sat there, unalarmed, a second plane flew into the towers. We noticed it several minutes before Bryant Gumbel realized there was a second explosion. Suddenly, it hit everyone. We were under attack. These were not accidents. By now, our older son was awake as well, and the whole family was glued to the TV. You know how it felt. Unreal. Impossible.

When our boys were younger, I had this tendency to "normalize" everything as a sort of protective mechanism for them...and for myself. So I went about my business and moved the clean laundry into the dryer while the men continued to watch television. I simply could not wrap my head around what was happening, so I escaped reality by doing housework. By the time the laundry had dried, the towers were collapsing. Actually collapsing. The inconceivable was unfolding before our eyes.

I kept doing laundry. I couldn't do anything else. I didn't cry, I didn't make phone calls, and I didn't cancel the day's appointments. In my mind, I felt that doing so would be a sign of weakness to the boys and a sort of "giving in" to whoever did this awful thing to us. My husband went to work. We started our homeschool lessons with a writing assignment about the attacks on the towers. Parents eventually started calling to ask if piano lessons were still on. Yes. Piano lessons are still on. The normal would be our salvation. At least that was the plan.

I decided to take the boys out to lunch at El Rodeo - their favorite restaurant. On the way, I made note of the fact that Main Street was almost deserted. When we arrived at the restaurant, no one was there except the employees. That's when I started to question my sanity. Obviously, I was not normal. I took my boys out to eat on the day of the attacks.

Later in the afternoon, students arrived on schedule for their piano lessons. We didn't discuss the events of the morning unless the children wanted to. One boy told me that his mother couldn't stop crying.

As the horrific stories of those who occupied the towers began to be told on television, I shut down. I wanted all televisions in our house to be turned off. It was too unbearable to watch. This continued for days and weeks. Each story seemed more tragic than the last. I was haunted by an unthinkable possibility: we might be attacked again.

Looking back, I wonder if my inability to outwardly process the tragedy and its consequences and implications led to physical injury, because I suffered with a six-month case of Linburg-Comstock Syndrome from September 2001 to March 2002. I couldn't play piano during that entire time. I taught lessons by pointing to keys and singing to students. No demonstrating at all. The only reason I question that the injury was brought on by the September 11 attacks is that it started the week prior and only became severe afterward. Probably just a coincidence...

May those who still suffer find comfort today, and may we never forget how it felt to live through 9/11/01 ourselves.

Musical Welcome Banner

It's the start of a new school year, and teachers everywhere have decluttered, organized, spruced up, and decorated to help their students feel welcome and excited about a new season of learning. I've done a little of all of those things myself, and today I whipped out out a musical welcome banner for the front door. It took me all of an hour to make this from start to finish because I've got a handy machine called a Cricut Imagine. I told it what shapes to cut and what patterns to print on the paper. If you don't have a fancy machine like an Imagine, you can still make something like this by hand. You would just need to buy preprinted paper and perhaps cut out less elaborate shapes than sixteenth notes for the letters. I'm pleased with the way this turned out and hope it stays put when the door starts opening and closing every 30 minutes!

Sneak peek at what Mrs. Boles and I are rehearsing...

Sneak Peek

at our Program

for BATTLE OF THE STUDIOS 2012!

Mrs. Boles and I have selected a program of piano duets and duos that we think you guys will love. No stuffy, high-brow stuff on this program! It's all fun and familiar music that you could learn to play yourself some day. Here's a sampling:

I'll be looking for students to do various jobs during the event. Here are the positions that need to be filled:

• Photographer
• Score Keeper
• Program Distributor
• Page-turners
• Drawing Assistant
• Emcee
• Artist for program cover

Mrs. Boles will probably seek to fill the same positions from her studio, so there will be at least two students needed for each job. Let me know if you are interested in one of these!

Flu shot FTW!

I think there is a decent chance that I was the first person in town to get my flu shot this season. Score! I love winning. There are different schools of thought on the benefits and risks of flu shots, but I am in the pro-shot camp for the simple reason that when I get the flu, I really get it bad. It's just horrible. Enough said.

Which reminds me, please swap lessons with someone if you have the flu on your piano day. Thank you!

Check out our assignment books. They are assembled and, in a word, fabulous. The Fall Term starts TOMORROW, and I'm so excited to see all of my students back again! 

Hey, you guys! Don't forget to mark your calendars for the all-important BATTLE OF THE STUDIOS: Sunday, October 21, 3pm, at New Hope Presbyterian Church. Please schedule your pumpkin patch trips, hay rides, and apple-picking times on ANOTHER DATE! I need you to show up and help The Piano School win the Bragging Rights trophy back from the Boles Piano Studio!

Weekly Schedule with Pinterest Idea

I finally learned how to use Pinterest this summer, and today I made a Pinterest craft. There are several cool ways people are using picture frames as stylish wipe-off boards. One involves this sort of cluster frame:

Usually, people choose the ones that have eight separate 4X6 frames so that they have one for a title box and seven for the days of the week. The plan is to cut out eight 4X6 pieces of patterned paper and use letter stickers to put a heading at the top of each piece: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc... You add these papers to the frame, then use a wipe-off marker to write on the glass...to-do lists, schedules, or whatever.

For my project, I only wanted a six-frame cluster - one box for my title and the five more for the teaching days of the week. I have a fixed schedule, so instead of using a wipe-off marker to list each day's plan, I printed it directly onto 4X6 pieces of patterned paper. Here is the result:

Now I have my schedule of piano lessons in front of me while I teach. I can still use the wipe-off marker idea to add notes, check-off students, or cross out canceled lessons.  I like it!

Hats off to you, Parents!

September 10! That's the day the 2012 Fall Term begins. I am truly excited about working with my wonderful group of students. You might not be able to make it out from the picture below, but there are 45 kids on the schedule Monday through Friday. Each day's lessons will begin at between 2:00 and 3:00 and the last lesson will end after 7:00.  There are kids of all ages and from all backgrounds on my roster. Many live nearby, but a few will drive as long as 45 minutes to get here. It's a privilege to have these precious young people entrusted to me for part (or all) of their musical education!

I'd like to address parents for a moment, because I want you to know what an important thing you are doing for your children by providing them with piano lessons. You make several sacrifices in order to give your child a private music education. Some of you have to scrimp and save to pay the tuition. Some of you have to juggle the crazy schedules of several children and work magic to provide reliable transportation to lessons. Some of you sit with your young children by the piano at home to assist with practicing. Some of you pick up your children early from school in order to make it to a 2:30 lesson slot or arrive late at lacrosse practice because you don't want to miss piano. There are myriad ways that you put your child's needs ahead of your own in order to make sure piano lessons are in the picture.

To you fabulous parents I want to say, "Bravo!" You are investing your time, money, and energy in an pursuit that will, very likely, yield dividends for years to come. I'm not just saying that because I'm the piano teacher. It is a well-documented fact that children who take piano lessons do better in school. It has also been discovered that these children are less susceptible to the effects of dementia and perhaps even Alzheimer's by the time they reach old age! Can you imagine? I don't claim to understand why this is true, but I will tell you a story to illustrate.

My childhood piano teacher, Mrs. Todenhoft, suffered five strokes several years ago when she was in her 80's. It was shortly after her husband had passed away, and she was in a state of utter confusion. Initially, she had a hard time remembering or doing much of anything. But gradually things came back to her. Do you know what was the first thing to return? Her music. She remembered how to play hundreds of pieces on the piano long before she was able to remember what year it was or what state she was living in! I went to visit her a few times in the retirement home where she lived, and she was still playing piano like a pro even though she needed assistance with other things.  Well, one day in 2008, I learned that she had agreed to play piano at the local mall for the Thursday Morning Music Club's National Day of Music. I was a little worried that she might forget the date of the event, so on my way to the mall to see her play, I gave her a call. Sure enough, no one had reminded her about the engagement, and no one had offered to drive her to the venue. Most 83-year-old ladies would have simply bowed out (or not agreed to play in the first place), but she said, "I can be ready in five minutes if you'll pick me up." When I walked into the lobby, she was coming toward me, cane in hand, with a list of songs she planned to play. No songbooks or sheet music, just a list. When we got to the mall, she walked right up to the piano and began to play. At first she forgot to take the spiral key bracelet off of her wrist, and she didn't quite know what to do with her cane, but she started in on her "set" like an absolute authority. She played so well, that passersby started to give her requests, and she obliged them! It was a moment that I'll never forget. Here is a video clip from that day. Notice the cane, the purse, and the list I mentioned.



After her gig in the mall, my piano teacher was beaming. She had great fun sharing her music with the people strolling by, and she was, I'm sure, happy to have been able to do what she did given her recent difficulties. What a valuable skill piano-playing has became to her during her senior years. By the way, when shopping for a suitable retirement home, her family made one stipulation. The facility had to allow her big Yamaha grand piano to move in with her. There aren't many homes that can accommodate that sort of request, but one was found, and I'm so thankful that it was. Here is a little video of my teacher in her room at the same Yamaha piano I took lessons on in the 1970's and 1980's. She was playing "There Will Never Be Another You" for me, and it chokes me up every time I watch. Because the truth is, there will never be another Mrs. Todenhoft.




On another note, if I can make half the impression on your child that Mrs. Todenhoft made (and still makes) on me, I will be very honored indeed. The thing about piano lessons is that we all remember them. Good or bad, we remember our time as a piano student, right? But piano-playing is a long tradition that I have the privilege of passing down to your child and which my teacher(s) passed down to me. This legacy can be traced back many generations to great historical teachers like Chopin, Liszt, and even Bach. It will continue to be spread (re-gifted, if you will) into the future as long as parents like you keep seeing that learning to play the piano is much more than plunking out right and wrong notes and keeping a steady tempo. It's a legacy from our ancestors and a mode of communication that survives when our human mind starts to fail. What a gift we send into the future when we keep this tradition alive.

Betcha didn't know you were doing all of that!